Means for drying peanuts and the like



Aug. 2, 1955 c. c. SMITH ET AL 2,714,258

MEANS FOR DRYING PEANUTS AND THE LIKE F-iled Sept. 15, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet l l 45 a u If INVENTORS n C Corns/[us C. Smith 61 45/ Wag fer E. Lever-efze WWW After-neg 2, 1955 c. c. SMITH ET AL 2,714,258

MEANS FOR DRYING PEANUTS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 15, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS Cor-ne//us 0. 6/77/27; 4

2, 1955 c. c. SMITH ET AL 2,714,258

MEANS FOR DRYING PEANUTS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 15, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS Cornelius C. Sm/zh ci' Wa/zer E. Leyerezze United States Patent 2,714,258 MEANS non DRYING PEANUTS AND THE LIKE Cornelius c. Smith, Slocomb, Ala., and Walter E. Leverette, Ashburn, Ga.

Application September 15, 1954, Serial No. 456,090

1 Claim. (Cl. 34-414) This invention relates to a means for drying peanuts and the like and it consists in the constructions, arrangements and combinations herein described and claimed.

It is the cardinal object of the invention to provide a new and novel means for handling and transporting green peanuts or grain from a point of deposit of the peanuts or grain as it comes from the fields toa drying apparatus, minimizing much manual labor and materially decreasing the time required in the drying operation, as well as the removal of the dried products from the drying apparatus to the storage bins.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a novel construction of peanut or grain receiving bin which is also employed as the drying chamber, there being means on said bin for ready installation to a hot air conduit of a drying apparatus and further including means whereby said bin may be readily transported to and from said drying apparatus.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention will be apparent from the following description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure l is a top plan view of a drying apparatus, illustrating the manner in which the bins are installed in a hot air duct of the apparatus.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of one of the bins.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the bins, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a chain anchorage associated with the bin.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a truck employed in transportation of the bin.

Figure 6 is a rear elevation of the truck, and

Figure 7 is a top plan view of the truck, on a reduced scale.

Attention is first invited to Figure 1 of the drawing wherein a drying apparatus is indicated generally by the reference character 10 consisting of heater unit 11 having a hot air duct 12. The duct 12 is provided with a plurality of outlets upon opposite sides of the duct and to each outlet a hot air discharge hood 13 is suitably secured. The discharge hoods 13 are of a flexible character so as to enable ready installation upon the inlet opening 14 of the bins 15 and each hood is provided with a suitable valve 16 for controlling passage of hot air into the bins.

The drying apparatus will of course be located in a suitable building, the ceiling 17 of which is indicated in Figures 5 and 6, as well as illustrating supporting girders 18, the girders and ceiling being omitted in Figure 1 for sake of clearness. The floor space of the building is divided into individual compartments or stalls 19 by means of division plates 20, these plates also acting as a guide means for locating the bins.

Reference is now made to Figures 2, 3 and 4 for an understanding of the construction of the bins 15, each bin of course, being of identical construction. The bin 15 is of rectangular construction of such dimensions as to be readily transported on a fiat bottom truck, as will be described hereinafter. The bin is formed from any suitable material and consists of a bottom wall 21, side walls 22, a front wall 23 and a partial rear wall 24. The bottom wall 21 and side walls 22 are reinforced by channel iron members 25 and 26 respectively, these members being located a like distance inwardly of the front wall 23 and the partial rear wall 24, so that when the bin is elevated a proper balance of the bin will be maintained. The top edges of the side walls are reinforced by channel members 27.

'A screened floor 28 is suitably spaced and supported above the bottom wall 21 for support of peanuts or other products to be dried, thus permitting passage of hot air upwardly through the products supported thereon.

As clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3, an elongated rectangular housing 29 is mounted upon the bottom wall 21 and between the side walls 22 and opens beneath the screened floor 28, the outer end of the housing having a collar 30 forming a mounting means for the discharge hood 13 which is disposed over the collar 30 and secured by a quicky releasable clamping means 31.

The rear wall 24 extends downwardly from the upper edges of the bin slightly less than one half the depth of the bin, thereby forming an opening 32 extending across the full width of the bin. The lower edge of the rear wall is reinforced by an angle bar 33, and a door 34 for the opening 32 is hingedly mounted upon said angle bar as at 35, the door swinging outwardly, but is normally retained in closed position by suitable catches 36 mounted on the side Walls 22.

At a suitable point upon the vertically disposed channel members 26, a chain anchorage means 37 is secured, as by welding said means having a downwardly inclined plate 38 provided with an enlongated slot 39 into which a link 40 of a supporting chain 41 may be engaged.

A flat bottom truck 42 is employed in the transportation of the bins and includes a front and rear elevating means 43 and 44, which may be hydraulically operated or otherwise. The elevating means are located in the longitudinal axis of the truck floor and are spaced apart longitudinally from one another so that the bottom of a bin will rest upon the head of the uprising piston of the elevating means.

Upon the sides of the truck floor a plurality of upstanding guides 45 are suitably mounted, the guides having inclined faces 46 for guiding or centering a bin on the truck floor. The floor of the truck 42 is further provided with a transverse channel bar 47 Which will act as a holding means when the foremost channel 25 of the bin is positioned in advance thereof.

For additional retention and securement of a bin upon the truck, a load binder 48 may be mounted on the side of the truck having a hook 49 engageable with an eyelet 50 secured to the front wall 23 of the bin.

In use, a plurality of bins 15 will be located in a receiving house where the green peanuts are brought in from the fields, the bins being filled to the proper capacity. Any suitable elevating means (not shown) having hoisting chains which are engaged with the anchorage means 37 is employed to elevate a bin to a level slightly higher than the floor of the truck 42. The truck is then hacked so as to position the floor beneath the bin and the bin is then lowered so as to rest upon the truck floor. The bin is then secured by means of the load binder and the truck may then be driven to the location of the drying apparatus. The bin 15 is always positioned upon the truck with the front end 23 next adjacent the cab of the truck, so that upon arrival at the drying apparatus, the truck is backed into one of the compartments or stalls 19 of the drying apparatus to present the housing 29 in proper relation to the discharge hoods 13. The bin may be raised through operation of the elevating means 43 and 44 to a position where a discharge hood 13 of the conduit 12 is aligned with the housing 29 of the bin. The chains 41 are then adjusted so as to engage the proper link 40 in the slots 39 of the respective anchorage means 37. The elevating means 43 and 44 may then be lowered, the bin being suspended by the chains permitting the truck to be moved for transport of another bin. As soon as the capacity of the drying apparatus has been attained and the various bins are coupled to the discharge hoods 13, the drier is set into operation so as to discharge hot air into the bins at the proper temperature and time required to dry the peanuts. After the necessary drying period, the truck is merely backed into position beneath a bin, the elevating means being operated to engage the bottom of the bin and the latter being uncoupled from the discharge hood. The elevating means is now raised slightly higher so as to produce a slack in the chains 41 so they can be released from the anchorage members 37. The bin may now be transported to a suitable storage house and upon arrival at such destination, any suitable hQisting means may be employed to tilt the bin in a rearward direction permitting the peanuts to discharge outwardly through the open door 24 for deposit upon a suitable conveyor or into a storage bin.

While we have shown and described a preferred form of the invention, this is by Way of illustration only, and we consider as our own all such modifications in construction as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

Apparatus for transporting and drying green peanuts and the like comprising a drying apparatus having a main hot air duct provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced outlets, suspension means above each outlet, a mobile vehicle for transporting a single, bin to a position in advance of each outlet, said vehicle having means for elevating the bin upwardly to said suspension means, said bin having anchorage means for securement to said suspension means and retain the bin in suspended position permitting removal of the mobile vehicle, each bin having a housing for detachable connection with a hot air outlet of the main duct, and said bin further having a Perfor ted b m space ab e the main bottO f said bin, forming a. hot air pa sage ay- Refer nces Cited in th file of h s pa nt UNITED STATES PATENTS 

